Bug#1111126: Copyright format does not explain how to describe a license text itself
Package: debian-policy
Version: 4.7.2.0
Severity: normal
The firmware-nonfree source package has files under many different
licenses, so there is no catch-all '*' pattern in debian/copyright.
As a result, lintian complains:
W: firmware-nonfree source: file-without-copyright-information Apache-2 [debian/copyright]
[...]
W: firmware-nonfree source: file-without-copyright-information GPL-2 [debian/copyright]
W: firmware-nonfree source: file-without-copyright-information GPL-3 [debian/copyright]
W: firmware-nonfree source: file-without-copyright-information LICENCE.Abilis [debian/copyright]
W: firmware-nonfree source: file-without-copyright-information LICENCE.IntcSST2 [debian/copyright]
W: firmware-nonfree source: file-without-copyright-information LICENCE.Marvell [debian/copyright]
[...]
W: firmware-nonfree source: file-without-copyright-information MIT [debian/copyright]
and so on.
The GNU licenses do include an explicit meta-license for verbatim
copying. However most license texts do not have this. Despite the
lack of that explicit meta-license, we are clearly intended and
(usually) required to copy them along with the works they apply to.
The copyright format does not explain how such license text files
should be documented. Unless they are public domain, which I don't
think is correct, the paragraph listing these files is required to
include or refer to a (meta-)license text. But there is none that I
can point to.
Ben.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: 13.0
APT prefers unstable-debug
APT policy: (500, 'unstable-debug'), (500, 'unstable')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Kernel: Linux 6.12.38+deb13-amd64 (SMP w/12 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Kernel taint flags: TAINT_WARN
Locale: LANG=en_GB.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_GB.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8), LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)
LSM: AppArmor: enabled
debian-policy depends on no packages.
Versions of packages debian-policy recommends:
ii libjs-jquery 3.6.1+dfsg+~3.5.14-1
ii libjs-sphinxdoc 8.1.3-5
ii sphinx-rtd-theme-common 3.0.2+dfsg-3
Versions of packages debian-policy suggests:
pn doc-base <none>
-- debconf-show failed
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